The team at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex has been heavily engaged in New York State's reopening of Sports and Recreation industry. All indicators were that our industries guidelines were to be updated (ie; advanced to next levels), however unforeseen delays have prevented this from taking place, therefore at this time our industry is still operating under the initial guidelines set forth in early July.
These guidelines restricted traditional ice hockey games from being permitted, unfortunately delaying the start of the IAHL Fall Season. The league has taken steps to adapt, which will allow our players the opportunity to return to the ice starting on October 1st (new start date for the 2020 Fall Season).
The objective of this document is to adapt the traditional playing rules for adult hockey so that they fit within the activities currently permitted within New York State--per the Sports & Recreation Guidance.
Low/no contact activities are permitted at this time, and it is assumed that three components of traditional hockey are of concern of State officials, leading to a delay in traditional games being permitted;
- Social distancing on players benches
- Close contact during face offs
- Checking (contact) and stalled play along boards that traditionally results in close contact of multiple players for an extended period of time.
Our set of 'hockey adaptations' is heavily focused on finding a means of eliminating these three key areas.
In addition, it incorporates protocols within the current NYS Guidance documents, newly released guidance from States that are now permitted hockey games (post COVID), and from anticipated protocols that will likely be mandated in New York once traditional games are permitted to occur.
It appears that New York is working closely with nearby states to create a common set of hockey protocols that all states will follow, which is a strong indicator that some of the adaptions we've incorporated will be mandated by NYS once traditional games are permitted (including masks being required on players benches).
The adaptations we've set forth will be utilized by the IAHL until NYS announces updated Guidance and protocols for our sport, at which time we will then make an immediate shift to that model (ie; this model is temporary).
